There is Hope In Bird Song
by ArminaSkitty
Summary: Sasuke has been trapped in Sound for nearly two and a half years. Outside his window, a bird sings and he gains the courage to try and escape. WARNING: Contains scenes of rape! Re edit complete
1. Song of Freedom

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto I wouldn't have to go to my other job or go to school and updates would come out a lot faster. Since updates come out with glacial speed and my job and school are a part of my daily life, I therefore do not own Naruto. Damn.

A.N.: Where did this fic come from? Not a frickin' clue in hell. I just wanted an angsty fic and this is that.

WARNING: Rape, psychological torture, sex between minors, YAOI and other adult stuff will be present. This fic is not for young people. You'll probably read it anyway, but at least I've warned you. If your parents' pitch a fit don't blame me, I just wrote this for people my age, not for you. Flames will be laughed at and used to roast marshmallows. Gay themes run rampant 'cause I'm a little yaoi fanatic. I'm writing this for my pleasure and the pleasure of others who like this angsty-type shit as well. If you no like, too damned bad. Last time I'm warnin' ya'.

* * *

Pain defined his world. The only differences in it were the kinds of pain he suffered. There was the physical pain of his training, the mental agony of the punishment he received if he performed poorly, the emotional pain of the betrayal he himself had performed.

But right now the pain he suffered was the mental, emotional, physical but mostly spiritually degrading agony of brutal rape. And there was absolutely nothing Sasuke could do to stop Orochimaru.

It wasn't an issue of strength anymore, it had long ago been made brutally clear to the dark-haired youth that the Snake was now, as always, _way _out of his league. Still, Sasuke would have fought if only to put in that token resistance. No, the reason that Sasuke didn't fight or resist or even just try and run away was because of the Coercions that bound him, preventing him from disobeying his Master's will.

The Coercions… those were the other things that defined his world, aside from the various forms of pain. They dictated what he could and could not do, where he could and could not go; and a few even dictated what precisely he could _think_. They craved out the boundaries of his world and steadily eroded away at his very self.

He hated it of course, as he hated the man that was pressing the young shinobi's head down into a more subservient position while he was taken from behind.

_He must be pleased about something, this isn't hurting as bad as it usually does;_ Sasuke noticed idly. He grit his teeth as his ribs, broken in training earlier, grated painfully at each thrust. The youth kept silent, he had long since learned that noise only encouraged the Snake.

Finally, Orochimaru was sated but, as Sasuke tried to move away without drawing attention, not satisfied. He grabbed the youth's length as the teen raised himself cautiously to hands and knees.

"Master?" Sasuke asked softly, warily, in a whisper. He sensed Orochimaru's leer in the darkness of the closet-sized room that was reserved for this- _activity_. A quick jab up the youth's ass was all that Sasuke needed to be able to tell what the Snake was leering about. _Oh Gods, not this again!_

Orochimaru must have really been pleased about something; he rarely ever 'shared' pleasure like this. The purpose of the jab was to insert a quick-acting, potent aphrodisiac into Sasuke's body. He was almost never permitted something so dignified as an orally ingested pill. He shuddered as he felt the pill's affects set in, forcing him to harden in Orochimaru's unwanted grasp.

Of all the things that the Snake did to him, Sasuke hated this part the most. He didn't _want_ to feel pleasure when Orochimaru did this to him. He didn't want to enjoy any aspect of this psychological torture, no matter how warped the 'enjoyment'.

He bit back a groan as the Snake teased him, toying with the youth's body but never giving Sasuke the satisfaction of release. Not now, not yet, not until Sasuke begged for it.

It didn't take long until he was reduced to that, the pill was too potent and Orochimaru too skilled for the youth to resist for long. That fact that Sasuke's spirit was broken didn't help either.

"Please…" he whimpered s his need became a very real, physical pain, "Please…" He had dropped to his elbows, biting the thin blankets to suppress his moans.

"What was that, my dear boy?" a dark voice hissed softly.

"Please… Master… Please…" Sasuke begged again, fighting to hold back tears of shame.

"What is it you want me to do, my precious toy?" The youth shuddered as the unnaturally long tongue traced his spine.

"I… beg you… please…" Sasuke bit his lip as he was squeezed, but not granted release. "I want- please-"

"'You want' what from me?" _Gods, no more. Please, no more!_

"Please… I want… please-" Gods, oh Gods, how he hated this, this 'game' that Orochimaru insisted on. "I- I want you- you to- to do- me… please…" the last was uttered as a barely heard whimper of pure shame and self-hate. He hated this. He_ hated _this This 'play', this 'game', this series of loops that the youth was forced to leap through, all for Orochimaru's enjoyment. And there wasn't a Bloody. Gods. Damned. Thing. He. Could. _Do_. About. It.

"There's a good toy." The dark voice crooned. A few quick, rough jerks was all that Sasuke needed to climax, and that was all that he was ever granted. Truthfully though, he'd rather have less than that.

Sasuke collapsed, spent and trembling, while Orochimaru ran possessive hands and that tongue over the pale body he was yearning to posses. That was the 'excuse' that he gave, the one time that he was asked why he raped the boy that he'd spent so much effort into obtaining. The Snake was 'familiarizing himself' with the form he would one day wear. Or so he told the shocked crowd that was splattered with the blood of the fool who had questioned him.

_Eight months. I have eight months before he consumes what little of my self that I can still claim is really me._ Sasuke dreaded and yearned for that date. He really, truly didn't want to cease to exist, but also he just wanted the pain to _stop_!

"I have work to do now. You will stay here until Kabuto comes." Orochimaru said, jerking Sasuke's mind back to the present. The youth turned carefully to ease the pressure on his broken ribs, but warily so as not to attract too much attention.

"Yes Master." He intoned emotionlessly.

"But first, what is it you need to say?" Orochimaru truly enjoyed this part. Sasuke truly detested it.

"Thank you… Master." Sasuke recited with even less emotion than before, "Thank you… for your time… your attention…"

"And?" the youth sensed the vicious grin, and the tightening of the Coercions.

"Th-th-thank you… f-f-for… fuck-k-king me…" the young shinobi choked out, tears of pure humiliation burning his eyes again. Why? Why, every time, did the Snake have to do this? To prove his control over him, the young fool who had thought to gain strength here? _Why?_

Another passionately _unwanted_ caress passed over his skin. The automatic shudder was suppressed with a huge effort of will. "And what is it you will do now?" This part, at least, was necessary.

"I will stay here." Sasuke recited robotically, reinforcing the Coercions on him, "I will stay… until Kabuto comes… or you release me… Master."

"Such a _good_ little boy." The Snake smirked, rising and gliding out the door, shutting it with a soft click as it latched, but didn't lock. It didn't need to be locked. Sasuke was as bound to the room as if he had been chained and bolted to the center of the floor. Sometimes, when Sasuke could feel the Coercions clamp around him, he imagined that that's how they felt, like chains wrapped around his very soul.

He lay there, patiently waiting for Orochimaru's distinctive aura to fade, then sat up, wincing at his multiple injuries. None of the injuries marred his skin however. Orochimaru was always so careful to insure that his future body was not scarred in any way.

Still, the very act of Sasuke sitting up was a genuine triumph. Before when he had been told to 'stay here', he hadn't been able to move until ordered to. Now, after much effort, he was able to sit up, stand and even walk around a little. He turned his attention to the door.

_Can I do it this time?_ He rose and felt his way over to the door and grabbed the knob. Carefully, he extended his senses beyond it. No one near-by, good. Kabuto wouldn't be coming for a while, he could count on that. The fucker enjoyed leaving Sasuke in pain.

He shivered slightly, it was cold and he was naked, but he didn't care. If he could do this- _No, not 'if'. I can do this. I _Can _I know it!_ He had his brain send the order down to his hand '_Turn the knob!_' The message was sent, racing down the nerves of his arm. He gripped tightly, feeling his muscle knot and tense with strain. _I can _Do_ It!_

He grabbed the knob with his other hand, sweat beading his brow from his effort, temples throbbing. But aside from that, nothing happened, the knob never moved. Once again the Coercion won the fight.

Sasuke gave up, leaning his head against the cool wood of the still-closed door. Defeat traveled down well-worn paths in his mind, making his body slump in the depression that was by now a close, well-known companion. He started shivering again so he stumbled over to the bed and felt around for his clothes, pulling on the rough, heavy garments.

He sat on the edge of the bed that he hated, feeling apathy join depression and defeat. Suicide once again looked incredibly attractive, and once again the Coercions closed in around him, preventing him from even starting to look for a sharp object with which to slit his wrists. That was the second Coercion to be set on him, right after his first rape session. Kabuto had come in to patch him up only to find him sitting in a pool of his own blood with two parallel gash marks decorating each wrist.

The first Coercion of course was basic obedience. Sasuke had figured out how to weasel around that one early on, but did his best to hide that fact, least Orochimaru place a stronger one on him.

A strange noise snapped Sasuke out of his depression. He knew that he knew this sound, but it had been so long since he'd last heard it that for a moment he just tried to puzzle it out. Was it- birdsong? Yes, it was. Outside the only small window the room had, a bird was singing. Sasuke couldn't help but bask in the happy sound. It had been such a long time since he'd experienced anything this nice that didn't have strings attached.

But that reminded him, there was the window. It was far too small for someone Orochimaru's size to fit through, but Sasuke was still small and slim. Never being fed enough to satisfy a young person's growing appetite would do that to you. He wondered briefly if Nar-

_Don't think that way, you know better by now;_ he scolded himself harshly. Thinking about Konoha and the people it held only sent him into a terrible deep depression. The lethargy that followed such depression usually got him beat three times as bad as usual, and that was really saying something. The only way to avoid that depression was to deliberately sink himself into reliving one of the happier moments.

Sasuke staggered over to the window, leaving thoughts of the past behind him. There was no glass in it, only a curtain that was easily brushed aside. He stretched his senses again, soaking in the song, but also scanning for people. There were two, far off at the edge of his chakra-sensing range. Too far for them to sense him then. _Okay, this time! This time for certain. I can do it. I have to. I _Must

He braced his hands on the bottom corners of the window; leaping through would be a tight squeeze and he'd probably loose a little skin on his shoulders, which were just starting to broaden, but he could sacrifice that. The Coercions, however, uttered a different idea and clamped around him. _Oh no you don't, not this time!_ Angrily, with the hope the birdsong had given him, he traced the inner edge of the Coercion, looking for the small hole that just _had_ to be in the invisible chains.

_There!_ Yes, there was a hole in the smooth, seamless cage. A tiny one, just large enough for him to claw at, but enough. With his mind, he clawed, scratched and dug at the tiny nick, widening it.

One link fell; he was able to brace his weight on his hands. Another link; he leapt and stuck his head and shoulders through, getting caught at his shoulders like he thought he would. A third link; he wriggled, losing skin but gaining ground. A forth and final link; he tossed the whole of that particular bind off and vaulted out the window and into the outside world.

He crouched just under the window, the bird uttering an indignant squawk before warbling even more enthusiastically. Sasuke yearned to do the same, after two years and four months, he'd finally gained a real victory. Now, to take it with both hands and run with it.

First though, the fallen Coercion had left a real whole in the cage of chains around him. He now had an avenue from which he could tear off more binds. And he did just that. But not all the Coercion fell from him, oh by no means, all.

But enough fell, just enough. He could run now; he could escape. But he'd need a little help. Fortunately for him, he could get it.

Sasuke had never learned to Summon Snakes. More truthfully, he couldn't. He was one of the exceedingly rare few who were physically unable to transfer the necessary amount of power needed to accomplish a Summoning. All that trying to do a traditional Summoning did was burn Sasuke's chakra coils with the back-lashed power. Orochimaru had not been pleased. Sasuke shuddered at the memory.

Fortunately, there were a number of passive rebels, no few of whom pitied Sasuke, knowing from the dead look in his eyes that he wasn't Orochimaru's puppet willingly. One of those people had taught Sasuke an untraditional Summoning technique, that of Calling the Eagles. Winged things could not be bound; they had to come to you willingly, of their own volition. The dark-haired youth had been careful to build up his credit with the Eagle clan, and because of that, they had never failed to come when he asked for help.

Which he did now, biting both thumbs and smearing his blood on the seals that adorned the back of both hands. The seals came with the Blood pact, and would remain unless he violated his vows of consideration. Seeing as he hadn't done that, and never wished too, a friend came as he spun out his chakra and his plea: _This is where I am, this is what I wish to do. Send me someone who can help me, but not betray my presence. Please!_

He never failed to add that 'please' to his thoughts. He didn't know if it was heard, or even noticed, but it couldn't hurt. A normal-sized peregrine falcon appeared under his hands, which he had layered, right over left.

"Sasuke?" she asked, familiar with the teen, then dropped her voice as he gestured for quiet. "What's going on?"

"I'm getting the hell out of here, and I need your help." He whispered back.

"You still can't see, can you?" she asked gently. Sasuke allowed his embittered expression to answer that. The first thing that had been done to him was the Coercion; the second was having his eyesight sealed away by Kabuto.

Gods, how he hated that fuck-head! Orochimaru had had the proud, young Uchiha begging and pleading within the first week, but the youth had consoled himself that the Snake was the only one who could make him beg. Then Kabuto had sealed away his eyes, stating that _Sasuke_ didn't need them, it was _Orochimaru_ who was going use the famous Sharingan.

Less than a week after losing his sight, Sasuke had begged, on hands and knees, head to the floor _begged,_ to have his sight returned. And Kabuto had laughed, laughed at the young teen that had tears of desperation streaming down his face, and refused. Sasuke had fantasized about using Kabuto's guts as fish bait ever since.

But after well over two years of blindness, Sasuke was used to it by now. Being blind had actually been something of a boon actually; he had had to learn how to compensate after all. He had learned how to channel chakra into his ears and nose to heighten his hearing and smell. He could tell how close someone was simply by the air pressure on his skin.

But most of all, his ability to sense chakra wave patterns was unmatched by any in Sound. He could detect emotions from that alone, and a forest, thick with life, was as clear to him as if he was seeing it. But in the desert area around Sound, that was of no help.

Dead and inanimate things gave off no chakra patterns for him to follow. Trying to head off into the desert without someone to be his eyes was simply an invitation for him to fall down a gorge somewhere. And he needed to make some distance from Hidden Sound and Orochimaru before he could move onto the second phase of his sketchy plan.

Most fortunate for him, Kintchy was well practiced in that capacity. She flitted up to his shoulder and stroked Sasuke's cheek with hers. The raptors he Called were his only friends at the moment and he cherished the care they gave him. He scanned the area around him one last time, and then set off.

"There's a large stone three paces in front of you, make sure to lift your right foot higher"

"Veer to the left slightly, there's a shallow gully that you may trip in"

"Fallen tree dead ahead, you want to jump right- _now!_" More small instructions like that came regularly, Sasuke adjusting his movements accordingly. He was used to it now, whenever he was outside the base proper and outside of Orochimaru's presence he Called this little falcon, or the grey owl Genskii at night, to be his eyes. Orochimaru and Kabuto liked to see him stumble however, and he didn't want them to know he had his feathered allies. It gave him just one more edge, an edge that was finally paying off.

He could barely sense Sound now, but-

"_You! _What are you doing out here?" Shit! Kabuto was the only other one save Orochimaru that Sasuke couldn't sense readily!

"Sasuke! He's coming!" The teen could sense the medic ninja traitor; there was enough distance, enough time-

"Renko no Jutsu!" He poured chakra out, silently screaming his desperation. He couldn't go back, not now, not after this. Everything he had endured until now would seem like paradise when the Snake was through punishing him for trying to escape. Kabuto could as easily seal his other senses as he had the youth's eyes.

_Not again! I can't- CAN'T- live through that again!_ He was lifted as a giant Goshawk materialized beneath him.

"Wha-?" it, he started to ask.

"Get me out of here!" Sasuke begged. Giant wings spread and the bird launched himself up, screeching in fury as Kabuto flung shuriken at him, but missed. Too little, too late. The bird rose higher then chuckled contentedly as he rose far out of range. Not even Kabuto, or even Orochimaru could touch him now.

"We're safe now." The great bird rumbled kindly as he leveled out at cruising height.

"Thank Gods, oh thank Gods…" the teen mumbled into the thick feathers he was clinging to. Once upon a time he had sworn never to cry again, right after his family was massacred. Orochimaru's brutality had made him abandon that oath along with many others. Those tears had been bitter; tears of pain, humiliation, horror and other dark emotions.

The tears that Sasuke cried now were sweet though, joy, relief and that one emotion that he had forsworn as too expensive to hold to, to maintain. Hope.

Below somewhere, there were birds singing.

* * *

Renko no Jutsu: Art of Calling, renko: calling repeatedly (appropriate for this art, no?)

This-fic-would-not-leave-me-_ALONE! _I have enough on my plate without another active fic, but dammit! What else are you supposed to do if an idea won't stop bugging you for over a week? I have five other active fics, updates are slow enough on them, well over a month between updates. Expect the same for this.

Yes, Sasuke's going back to Konoha and no, things are not going to be peachy 'tween his buddies and him. No, Tsunade's not going to be able to fix his eyes right away. I don't know yet if his eyes _Will_ be fixed, haven't gotten there yet. You'll just have to wait and see, same as the dumb author here. Weelp, Ja ne.


	2. Song of Chance

Chap 2

Authors notes: Arg, I'm so sorry that this took so long. My excuse? I was battling over the decision of whether or not to make Sasuke a daddy. Decided not to, just one more complication that would turn this fic in a mind Fker. That ain't a good thing.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto… it wouldn't be the popular series it is. Therefore, Own Naruto I do not.

05-05-06

* * *

"I can't believe it…" 

"Shut it Ero-Sennin."

"The shame of it…"

"It's none of your business, dirty old man."

"You're supposed to be my apprentice!"

"And this is supposed to mean what again?"

"You're only supposed to ogle boobs!"

"Hey! I ogle boobs just as much as you do, I'll have you know!"

"Oh really?"

And so on and so forth went the argument as Naruto and Jiriya continued the trek out of Suna. They were a day and half out and Jiriya was still reeling over a tradition Naruto had that the old man had just now found out about. He had only just learned in this last visit that Naruto and Gaara had a…. unique relationship.

No real surprise there, the blonde's visit was widely accepted and anticipated thanks to the mellowing affect he had on the redheaded Kazekage. No one else could so easily make Gaara smile, nor actually make him #gasp# laugh.

Maybe this was because no one else understood him quite so much as Naruto did. There was no denying the fact that the two had a connection; which may have been there reason for the current argument between master and student. Naruto's and Gaara's connection and understanding hadn't stopped with them just being friends. No, the two were lovers as well. Er… kinda…

Naruto did not love Gaara, not that way. He had tried to love his fellow Jinchuuriki, he really had since Gaara deserved to be loved, but… the emotion hadn't come. So he faked it, since the redhead so clearly loved the blonde. Of course Gaara saw through the façade, but appreciated and loved Naruto even more for the blonde's effort.

It had started the very first time that Naruto and Jiriya had visited Suna. Gaara had invited his friend to his quarters for a private dinner so that they could catch up on things. The soon-to-be Kazekage had made the first move, and Naruto hadn't pulled away. He didn't want to; he cared a lot for Gaara, especially since he was working very hard in becoming a better person.

Hesitant touches had deepened, as had the tentative kisses. The badger-demon vessel had then led the fox-demon vessel back into the bedroom and- we'll leave the online sex-ed for another time.

Naruto had been given plenty of opportunities to say 'No', but hadn't. He knew that Gaara would have quit the moment the blonde even hinted to the fact that he was uncomfortable. But he couldn't say no to his fellow, not to _Gaara_. To anyone else, yes, the Konoha shinobi would have said 'I don't love you so this can't happen', but Gaara was different, special.

_Besides, he really knows how to make it feel soooo good…_ It had taken over two years for Jiriya to figure out what all those over-night, private dinners meant, and the self-proclaimed Super Pervert wasn't pleased with the fact that Naruto was apparently gay, with no appreciation for a properly stacked female figure.

Naruto did _so_ like a properly proportioned female; he just also had a small thing for a certain specific redheaded ex-sociopath who knew just how to touch- _Whoa! Better derail that thought! Don't want to develop a, uh, problem in the middle of a desert where there's no cold wate- What's that shadow?_

The sky above the two traveling shinobi was as cloudless now as it had been all day, so a large, correction, _huge_ shadow passing over them was suspect. Naruto looked up, as had Jiriya a moment earlier. _Damn! That is one big bird!_

"Toad Sage!" the bird bellowed, "Jiriya! My Oath-bond is in need of aid!"

"The Eagle Clan, here?" Jiriya mused.

"Oath-bond?" Naruto asked.

* * *

"Where is it you want me to take you?" Asked the giant Goshawk that Sasuke had Called. 

"Anywhere, I don't care, so long as it isn't Sound," he shifted painfully on the bird's back, wincing as his broken ribs complained, "or Konoha, I can't go back to Konoha."

"Are you well?" the small peregrine Kintchy asked as she hovered over her Oath-bond.

"Just a thrashed body and a few broken ribs," Sasuke muttered weakly, "nothing of great concern." The falcon muttered something about masochistic humans, but the black-haired youth ignored her. He was too busy stressing over what he was going to do now.

He couldn't go back to Konoha, even though nearly all of his heart and soul yearned to return to his birthplace. H was a Missing–Nin, and his life was therefore forfeit. But more than that, he couldn't face his old team.

The memory of Kakashi tutoring him, of Sakura's tear-filled, love-smitten eyes and Naruto's desperate effort to keep him from leaving; these things were all that kept Sasuke semi-sane (since he damned well knew he didn't qualify as fully sane). Even though he knew he was deluding himself, Sasuke wanted to believe that the others still felt the same about him as they had when he left. He couldn't, _couldn't_ go back and face reality.

For he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he was hated for what he had done, for his betrayal. Easier by far to avoid everything Leaf and fake that time hadn't passed and that he hadn't severed all ties and hopes for care.

The binds keeping him from suiciding were still there; facing reality would deprive him of his one reason left for living. He would then be forced to live a half-life, body living but soul dead and past hope of reviving. In other words, he'd descend into full madness; utterly unacceptable for a full shinobi.

The Hawk flew on in silence, the falcon gliding over Sasuke, who clung to the Hawk's neck feathers. The blind youth could tell when the falcon was hovering over him due to the fact that for brief moments a small body blocked the increasingly harsh sunlight.

Had this been any other mode of transportation save bird flight, Sasuke probably would have succumbed to his body's demand for rest. But bird flight was only comfortable for the bird. Each powerful down stroke of the wings made the bird lunge forward sharply, each short glide convinced the broken human that his stomach had been left miles behind him.

The gliding was still preferable to the beating wings, the former Konoha/former Sound shinobi's broken ribs weren't going to forgive him for flying anytime soon. As if to enforce that idle thought, the Hawk hit turbulence.

It was probably the least fun moment of the entire trip. It felt like Sasuke was trying to stay on an enraged mustang, and one that could tilt sideways ninety degrees and well as buck up and down. While lying prone on the back of the beast. With the afore mentioned broken ribs.

When the turbulence finally passed, the teen had to cough hard; it was suddenly difficult to breathe.

"Are you alright?" The Hawk asked when the first spasm eased.

"I'm… fine. I'm fine." Sasuke wheezed, then coughed again, even harder and longer than the first time. He tasted blood, and his chest hurt far worse than before.

"Sasuke! That's blood!" Kintchy shrieked, "You're coughing up blood!"

"You are _not_ fine!" The Hawk cried out over Sasuke's weak protests to the contrary. "I am finding someone to aid you, for we cannot."

"You don't hav-" Sasuke's objection was overwhelmed as the Goshawk suddenly boomed out a call.

"Toad Sage! Jiriya! My Oath-bond is in need of aid!"

_Jiriya… where have I heard that name before?_ Sasuke heard a vaguely familiar voice mumble something, and then an eerily familiar voice mumble something else. It sounded so similar, but he couldn't place it. It was like an echo of something he knew, only deeper, more mature…

Subconsciously, he stretched out his senses as the Hawk slowly circled in to land gently, and the chakra pattern he felt was also oddly familiar. A powerful, golden aura, with a violent, savage crimson core- _Oh Gods!_

He _knew_ that voice now, he _knew_ that aura! He suddenly remembered who the name Jiriya belonged to, and he knew who it was beside him only too well. _Naruto! Oh gods, No! I can't! I can't face him! _

"I can't!" He cried out, physical pain overwhelmed by his profound emotional anguish, "NO! I can't! Not Naruto!" His grip on the neck feathers loosened in his distress, the anti-suicide Coercions responding to late to what wasn't deliberate suicide. The forward momentum of the Hawk and the bird's backward slant as he fanned his great wings did the rest.

Sasuke slipped off the slick feathers and entered free fall. For a moment, he felt peace as he heard the distressed cries of human and bird alike. He could feel how far he was above the earth's surface he was by the distance separating him from that achingly familiar prescience. He knew that there was no way he could survive the fall.

_Finally, finally it's over. I'm finally free and now I can repay you, Naruto, for all the pain I've caused._ Too bad for the ex-Leaf shinobi that Goshawks are extremely agile and the Eagle Clan had every reason to work their feathered butts off to keep Sasuke alive.

The two below could hardly believe their eyes as the gigantic raptor pivoted midair with great vaneings of his wings. He angled his head down and with even greater beats caught up with the limp falling form. Outstretched talons closed around the body of the dark-haired youth with deceptive gentleness and the bird allowed himself to settle on the ground with a little less gentleness. No one dared even think criticism as the Goshawk hung his head, panting in effort and fright at the near-tragedy.

* * *

How many times had Naruto heard the phrase "Heart in your throat" but had never understood it? Way too many times, and now he knew what the old saw was describing only too well. The _huge, ginormous_ bird had been too far away for the young blonde to make out what its rider was screaming, but what happened after was now forever burned into Naruto's brain. 

#_FLASH# _The rider slipping loose, hanging for a moment as if levitating.

_#FLASH# _The rider now falling, slowly, painfully slowly while Naruto's body just _stood_ there while his mind was _screaming_-

_#FLASH# _The Hawk somehow swinging its huge body around, and defining all reality by diving under its own wing.

_#FLASH# _The Hawk then reaching out with those mammoth talons as the rider kept falling just out of reach- _He's not going to make it. _The talons moved nearer, but the body kept falling, falling- _He's not going to make it! _The talons started to close, but the rider's body wasn't in them- _He's not going to Make It!_

Naruto blinked. The Hawk was on the ground panting hard, balanced on one foot while the other was clenched around a limp, dark-haired form that was moaning in pain. _Huh? Did I miss something? Again?_ Jiriya ran past the dazed and confused Naruto to the person that had somehow, inexplicably escaped a bloody and gruesome death.

The blonde ran over the flash photos in his memory and was confronted by the image of the Hawk capturing the rider a mere fifteen feet off the ground. _Oh._ The apprentice ran over to join his master and was confronted by a sight that grabbed the heart that was still fluttering around in his throat and threw it down to his feet.

Sasuke. It was Sasuke that had ridden the giant bird that was still looming over the three humans. It was Sasuke that had nearly fallen to his death, only to be snatched back seconds prior. It was Sasuke that was now being gently released to lie on his side.

Sasuke the traitor. Sasuke the would-be killer. Sasuke the future vessel of Konoha's greatest enemy. _Sasuke my teammate. Sasuke my best friend. Sasuke who is like my brother._

Naruto stood frozen again, for once speechless. Konoha's most spontaneous and random ninja was now left without a single clue as to how to proceed. The blonde shinobi had dreamt of hundreds, thousands of different scenarios for how he was going to reunite with his way-ward teammate. The scene in front of him didn't fit with any of them.

Then Sasuke coughed hard and spat up blood, and the past didn't matter. The fact that Sasuke had once rammed a Chidori'd fist through his right lung after calling the blonde his best friend didn't matter. The fact that the friendly rival, who had once taken a fatal attack for the random blonde knowingly, was now coughing up his life's blood at his feet _did matter._ A lot.

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried, rushing forward to ease his friend into a more comfortable position. "What happened? Where are you hurt?" Sasuke groaned weakly. "Aside from the lungs I mean."

Jiriya made symbols that Naruto hadn't seen before and did some arcane jutsu over Sasuke's pale form, but for once the blonde ignored him. Filling his eyes with Sasuke was more important. The dark-haired youth had matured nicely, Sakura would be pleased.

His face had grown thinner and a little longer. Sasuke was taller than before, but not by much, and was still slender. _Too slender?_ Naruto wondered, feeling ribs, these unbroken, too easily beneath the black shirt. _Yes, _Naruto decided_, Sasuke's much too thin. He could use a nice bowl of ramen!_

But the blonde youth's thoughts turned sad again, there was so much pain in Sasuke's eyes, eyes that refused to look at him. Naruto also noticed faint lines around those eyes and at the corners of the formerly Missing-Nin's mouth that spoke of even more pain.

"Broken ribs," Jiriya grunted, breaking into Naruto's reflections, "and the left lung is punctured. He's going to need a medic Nin. And-" Jiriya broke off suddenly and peered closely at Sasuke's face.

"And what?" the dark-haired youth whispered, speaking finally. He wasn't pulling away even though Jiriya had moved his hand and face uncomfortably near. Naruto blinked, he knew how much Sasuke valued personal space. Maybe, _had_ valued?

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Jiriya demanded suddenly, holding up three fingers. Naruto blinked yet again. Sasuke wasn't showing any normal symptoms of a concussion, or any other head trauma that would require that question. What was the Ero-sennin getting at? A long silence followed the question however.

"Well?" the Toad Sage insisted.

"Jiriya-sama-" the little falcon how was standing near Sasuke's shoulder started, then was interrupted

"I think you would know the answer better than me." The dark-haired youth said in a low growl. Never before had Naruto heard a tone so bitter, and he'd had plenty of opportunity to hear it. _Wait, does that mean-?_ Sasuke's face was turned in the direction the hand was held in, his eyes were open, their color was clear, but-

The pupil was constricted to a pinpoint even though they were all in the Hawk's shade, and the eyes didn't seem to be focusing. Was Sasuke…? No impossible. Yet… _Was Sasuke blind?_

Jiriya grunted, "Thought so. Naruto!"

"Hai?" the blonde answered warily. He was about to be sent off, _away _from his newly recovered friend, he just knew it.

"You know where the nearest village is," the old, hentai-book writer said, "Go fetch a rescue team, Sasuke here needs to be taken on a stretcher." That the discussed youth wasn't protesting as he should seemed ominous to the blonde, "Off now! Triple time!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Naruto drawled, reluctantly setting Sasuke down on his _right_ side. "I'll be back as soon as I can." He murmured to the unresponsive youth. The other's face was drawn up in pain, causing Naruto to squeeze his shoulder slightly in reassurance before he launched off at his fastest pace. The relief team would take longer to return, so the faster Naruto could fetch them, the faster they could get back.

* * *

Jiriya watched his apprentice race off for a moment, then turned his attention back to the youth before him. _Orochimaru, you bastard, you really over-did it this time._ It was painfully clear for an old, experienced shinobi like him to read the signs laid out before him. 

Sasuke hadn't been broken, he'd been shattered. The jutsu that the old man had used was one that allowed him to look inside a person's body for a brief moment, although it didn't allow him to act on what he saw. That's what allowed him to see the three broken ribs with the bottom one piercing the left lung. It also showed him the signs of recent rape, clear since consensual intercourse left a different signature.

But that wasn't all; even though there were no surface scars, the bone calluses of hundreds of different healed broken bones had been revealed by the jutsu. If Sasuke lived to old age, he was going to be one achy bastard during a weather change.

And yet even all that physical damage hadn't been enough for the Snake-Sennin. Oh no, he had to break the record in Coercion Binding Jutsu's as well. Never before in all of Jiriya's fifty-two years had he ever seen so many Coercions in one place, ever. Not even the time when he had rescued over sixty slaves from an illegal market and he was just counting individual Coercion spells, not the different varieties. Each slave had had two to three Coercions each. All of those added up were still eclipsed by the number of ones hedging in Sasuke's freedom.

"It's a miracle you can breathe without permission." Jiriya grumbled out loud. Sasuke barked out a weak, ironic laugh.

"He actually did that too, forbade me to breathe," Sasuke muttered, "He did it to prove he could, to show how strong and superior he was."

"Superior my ass." The Sennin countered, "Anyway, I can do something about a great deal of those Coercions on you, although a few are going to require further study. Do you want me to break them?"

The expression on that came to Sasuke's face forced the older man to revise his earlier assessment of the boy. Orochimaru would never, _ever_ look that pathetically pleading. "Please," Sasuke whispered, "please." No, this boy was definitely not the same type as Orochimaru.

Jiriya quickly set up a sketch of a Circle to make things a little easier on the two of them while the Hawk backed up a little, but spread his wing out to shield the two frail humans from the hot, desert sun. The little falcon, who Sasuke called 'Kintchy' perched on the larger bird's foot, watching carefully.

Now, aside from the fact that they are designed to inhibit all freedom, there is one other thing to bear in mind about Coercions. If they are not disabled from within, they are exceedingly painful for the afflicted when removed by someone other than the one who set them. Thus, Sasuke was able to break and disable a number of the ones on him with little discomfort save fatigue. But with Jiriya breaking the ones on him from without…. That hurt. A lot.

Yet Sasuke didn't do more than hiss or gasp in pain from time to time as the spells were snapped, one by one. This, to the Toad-Sage, was as telling of what Sasuke had lived through as the multitude of bone calluses. If the pain he was suffering now wasn't worth screaming over, then he had suffered truly great pain in the past.

The old man sighed as he shattered the last of the Coercions he could get to right then. _All my training, all my studies and still Orochimaru can commit atrocities that I can't stop. I told myself long ago to stop feeling guilty about it, that I can only do what I can and leave the rest to others, so why does it hurt so much to see this boy's pain?_

Jiriya went over to the collapsed boy and helped him lie down in a more comfortable position and propped him up on Naruto's duffle bag. Then he sat down beside him on the dusty road. Sasuke's face was completely mask-like, not revealing anything. To bad he couldn't control his eyes, they seethed and rolled with intense physical and emotion pain.

"I was wrong about you," the book writer confessed. Sasuke turned his face in Jiriya's direction. "I was completely and utterly wrong about you. You wouldn't be laboring under the amount of Coercions that you are if you weren't good of heart. Orochimaru" Sasuke flinched at the name, "wouldn't have felt the need to bind you so tightly if you hadn't fought him with everything you have."

"No.." Sasuke whispered while cringing slightly, clearly expecting to be punished for his defiance. When nothing happened he continued. "I'm- I'm not good. I- I've done- _things_- such terrible things. I- I- Oro- O- _He_ made me- made me do such horrible things- I- I can't- I'm not-"

"But you just said it yourself, Sasuke," Jiriya interrupted, "He _made_ you do those things, you didn't do them voluntarily."

"You don't know- you weren't there-" Sasuke protested, then winced back again, expecting to be punished. Jiriya had decided to ignore the cringing, sooner or later the boy would understand and accept the fact that he wasn't going to be beaten for being 'rebellious'.

"I have proof enough before me in your mental state and the layers upon layers of Coercions." Jiriya stated calmly and gently, "If you had wanted to obey Orochimaru" Sasuke flinched again, "you wouldn't have been bound. If you had enjoyed what you were ordered to do, you mental state wouldn't be as fragile as it is."

Sasuke stared sightlessly at the Sennin, brows creased with thought. Finally he sighed and slumped, defeated for now. "Maybe…" Jiriya reached out a comforting hand, only to have the youth jerk wildly away at his touch. _Man-fear._ Common enough in rape victims, it would undoubtedly take years for Sasuke to recover from it. _Actually, if my experience is reading this right…_

It had taken Orochimaru only a little over two years to so completely scar the young one, and it would probably take well over a decade for Sasuke to significantly recover from it. _He'll probably never really heal from this, but at least I can ensure that he gets the chance to try. And the least I can do, for having not tried to kill that bastard all those years ago, is to try and help the poor boy._

So Jiriya reached out again to lay a gentle, reassuring hand on Sasuke's shoulder. This time, Sasuke didn't jerk away, but it took until Naruto's return for the fearful trembling to stop.

* * *

How Naruto got the medic team to Sasuke so quickly was later written down as one of the great mysteries about the boy. But somehow he had and now the former missing-Nin was safely ensconced in one of the small village's hospital beds. His ribs had been set, his lung drained of blood, and the puncture had been Healed enough that it _would_ heal properly. Naruto hadn't left his former teammate's side the entire time. 

He had stayed close to his friend, watching carefully, as if he expected Sasuke to vanish spontaneously if the blonde took his eyes of the midnight haired youth even once. Even when the doctors had swarmed Sasuke, Jiriya's money came into play there, Naruto had simply wedged himself into a corner of the room out of the way, and kept watch.

Now he had claimed the chair by the head of the bed that Sasuke was resting in as his private property and wouldn't be budged. The traitor Nin couldn't understand it; after all that had happened, why did Naruto still care?

"Why…?" he murmured.

"Why what?" Naruto pounced on the small outreach the way a starving predator would.

"Why do you still care? How can you still like me? Why haven't you given up on me yet? Why aren't you disgusted by me?" Each word came out louder and more hysterical as Sasuke finally gave in to the internal pressure.

"Disgusted?" Naruto asked, cluelessly.

"Yes! Disgusted!" Sasuke sat up and turned in the blonde's general direction, "Why can't you see that I'm- _Tainted?_ How can you stand me! Stand to be anywhere _near _me? I'm tainted and polluted and- and completely _unclean_ and-"

Sasuke's self-directed tirade was cut off as he was pulled into a strong, gently embrace. It was so warm…

"No, you're not tainted." Naruto crooned, "You're not polluted, you're not unclean. You've just been through hell, but it's over now and you're safe. You're safe."

_It's a lie,_ Sasuke thought, _it's a lie, I _am _unclean. And- safe? Ha! Oro- O- _HE'S_ still out there and how can I be safe if _That Man _is still alive? And- I've done such- such horrible things… I don't deserve…_

Naruto shifted his seat from the chair to the edge of the bed so that he could hold and comfort his long missing friend a little less awkwardly. Sasuke realized he was trembling, but not with fear as he would have expected. The blonde continued to murmur soothing nonsense at the black-haired youth, rubbing his back and rocking him gently. A whimper of repressed emotion somehow managed to escape, and for some reason that opened the floodgates.

Sasuke had cried so many times over the past two plus years, but those tears of pain/shame/rage/humiliation hadn't relieved anything, nor released anything. Perhaps that was because he'd either been alone, or had been in the middle of whatever it was that had caused him to cry in the first place.

He had never been held and soothed the way Naruto was holding and soothing him now. And when was the last time someone had offered his shoulder for him to weep on? _Oh, right, never._ It helped, it really helped.

With one hand rubbing his back, easing his tension, and the other stroking his hair, Sasuke felt… _protected_. Sheltered. Cared for and, dare he think it?

_Loved…_

Sasuke felt loved, loved by Naruto, the person he had ridiculed, scorned and had then tried to kill. Intellectually, the former missing-Nin realized that it was the friendly/brotherly type of love that Naruto was expressing, but that simply didn't matter right now.

The care that was radiating out of the blonde was simply too strong to deny and Sasuke decided then that he wanted to drown in it. He didn't deserve it, and later he would punish himself for his current indulgence. But right now he clung like a drowning man to the only life preserver available and wept out over two years of constant pain into the strong, broad shoulder offered him.

Naruto never let him go. Naruto had never let him go, not once. And he never would.

* * *

A.S.: gah, finally, got it done. Gomen nasi for taking so long, I was struggling with various plot bunnies that won't- stop- freakin'- BREEDING! Rarg! Well anyway, here's the update and hopefully the next one won't take so long. Feel free to check out my other fics #hint# #hint# #nudge# #nudge# Ja for now! 


	3. Song of Speech

AN: Sorry for the long delay in updating, I had issues with work, family, summer vacation and now school. And other fics. BEA87 is a love and bribed me with fanart for my New Bloodlines fic, starring Shikamaru. Yes, I'm bad and I'm susceptible to bribery. You may yell at me now. BEA has a deviantart profile under the same name, so please check out her work and tell her how wonderful she is, since she really is a wonderful artist. Anyway, here's the next chap, not as good as I'd like but the damned charas were arguing with me! I probably am going to have to do a re-edit later.

(Rough,11-14-06)

* * *

Jiraiya leaned onto the balcony outside of the room Sasuke was sleeping in. Only two days had passed since that boy had been recovered and he had healed a little, a very little. His physical injury, his punctured lung, had healed sufficiently within the first day to merit a release so Jiraiya had moved the boys to a hotel. They were waiting for reinforcements from Suna, which Jiraiya had called for. _We're going to need some excuse for staying here as long as we have._

Spies were everywhere these days, and the old man had no doubt that someone was suspicious. He'd paid off the medical team that had cared for Sasuke and had informed them of the… consequences of courting Konoha's disappointment. The old man was certain that the doctors would now rather chop off their own hands than anger Konoha.

But there were other people who would notice and might talk about the old white-haired man and his blonde haired apprentice who were caring for a dark haired boy that was the same age as the blonde. Shinobi didn't stay in one place without a damned good reason. Thus, Jiraiya was grateful that Suna could provide one.

The Chuunin exams were going to be held at Konoha again this year, and a representative from Suna needed to go and arrange things. Jiraiya had taken great care to complain loudly at the many pubs he'd gone to earlier about how aggravating political officials were and how irritating it was that he had to wait to escort an ambassador to Konoha. Why couldn't this ambassador have joined him and his students earlier when he left Suna itself? Why couldn't this ambassador get to Konoha his/herself?

The men at the pubs had all been very sympathetic, and had all seemed convinced that Jiraiya was the one doing the favor, instead of Suna granting him a favor by sending out their representative early.

_Naruto's influence is playing a part there, Suna couldn't care less about me, but Gaara and his chosen advisors will bend over backward for the boy._ Jiraiya smiled sadly, poor Naruto. He was going through ten types of hell himself, what with his dedication in pulling Sasuke out of his personal hell.

Jiraiya's smile faded at the thought of Sasuke; _I wasn't kidding when I thought that he hadn't been merely broken, but shattered instead. _That first night after the boy's recovery, the Toad-Sage had coaxed Naruto to leave Sasuke and go to the hotel room. Three hours later, a nurse from the hospital had woken them with a message that Sasuke had woken up screaming and couldn't be soothed.

No one had had luck soothing Sasuke, not even Jiraiya. Except that Naruto could. For whatever reason, the dark-haired youth responded poorly to everyone's touch, save Naruto's. Sasuke had accepted that Naruto would never hurt him, but everyone else was suspect.

_Thank all gods that he does accept Naruto, or else he'd probably have to stay sedated until this first rush of fear wears itself out._ Jiraiya rubbed his face tiredly and glanced over his shoulder. Through the balcony window he could see the two boys laying on one of the beds in the room. Naruto was leaning against some pillows propped against the wall and Sasuke was leaning against the blonde's chest, listening as the blonde read him a book. Both of the brunette's arms were above the blanket and Jiraiya could see the bandages wrapped around the left arm clearly.

_He said he needed to punish himself when he cut himself. He had to _punish_ himself._ Jiraiya had heard of people who had been abused for so long that they felt that they deserved it, but he hadn't encountered any before. _I can't help but wonder if this particular behavior had started before Orochimaru._

Naruto had explained that Sasuke had always had arm wraps of some kind for as long as the blonde could remember, and there were old scars next to the fresh wound, and a few old scars on the other arm as well, so it was possible. But Sasuke wasn't talking. Thankfully, he had agreed to stop cutting himself after Naruto begged him not to.

_And that concerns me a little as well, how quickly and readily Sasuke bows to whatever Naruto wants. I think right now, he's looking for someone to order him and guide him, that he feels that he no longer can think for himself._ But that didn't make complete sense. Jiraiya gnawed on his thumb lightly while he puzzled over the evidence.

_The Eagle Clan is one of the few Shikigami Clans that can be bargained with, and you must, absolutely _must_ have a strong will when dealing with them. They don't work with just anyone, and if they decide that you no longer deserve their aid, they will abandon you. So why is that little falcon still here, acting as Sasuke's eyes, unless there's something there that they still value?_

Jiraiya didn't have much personal experience with the Shikigami Clans, and he didn't think that Kintchy would tell him any juicy details, so the only conclusion he could come to was that he didn't have enough information for anything other than speculation. _Although, that damned bird does seem to be genuinely fond of Sasuke, and Naruto. She'll often go pester that blonde brat just so she can get a good head scratch. _And the falcon wasn't the only one either, Sasuke had a grey owl ally for night, and that fellow liked to be cuddled (1), let alone scratched.

_But only by Sasuke and Naruto, neither bird likes anyone else to come near, although they both will tolerate me. That has to mean something; if Sasuke takes orders and bows his will to someone the Clan approves of, it's okay?_ Jiraiya didn't know.

Still, worrisome as it was that Sasuke bowed to and obeyed Naruto without question, right now it was useful. The blonde only had good intentions for the broken boy, and when the former missing-nin was sleeping, the blonde would pester his master for advice and reassurance. _It may just be that we've been granted something of a short-cut here. If Naru-baka tells Sasuke to do or not do something, he will or wouldn't do it for so long that it'll become ingrained behavior. This way, when his heart heals more, the normal behavior patterns will already be there and all he has to do is accept that it's right._

Jiraiya grimaced at another thought, _right, _ideally_ it'll work that way, but more likely it'll backfire. These behaviors are letting us know that something's wrong. Cutting himself, for example, is letting us know that he feels he needs to be punished if he ever 'indulges' himself, like accepting Naruto's care. His obedience to Naruto is symptom of something else, but what? He exhibits typical man-fear to everyone but Naruto and children under eight, and human-fear to just about everyone else. So why is Naruto special?_

This one was a harder puzzle, what could possibly be unique about Naruto that Sasuke felt that the blonde was safe? _Or is it not just Naruto, but that he _knows_ Naruto and we haven't yet encountered anyone else he knows like that?_ That theory made sense, but he'd have to wait another few days to test it. Their assistance from Suna that gave them probable cause for the delay would come tomorrow or the next day, and then it was another five days or so at normal traveling speed to get to Konoha. They'd probably have to go slower to accommodate Sasuke's current physical weakness.

_No, we'll have to go slower and keep our eyes sharp for any signs of pain or fatigue, for as certain as the sun will rise tomorrow, he won't utter a peep of complaint; he won't dare to for fear of punishment._ He sighed; screaming nightmares, fear of any and all touch, an insistence for punishment and a slavish emotional dependence on an old school friend and teammate; the boy was a wreck. _And this is only the end of the second day! What else is going to crop up?

* * *

_

The sun was rising slowly, Sasuke felt it by the way the tree outside their room was responding, growing more active. Plants were harder to read than animals, but with big complex things like trees it was possible. But the coming dawn wasn't what woke the blind boy._ There's someone in the room_.

He didn't move, didn't so much as twitch. He certainly didn't need to open his eyes. Sasuke merely analyzed the foreign presence, it didn't feel hostile. _Or rather, _she_ doesn't feel hostile._ He wondered if he should wake Naruto, it would be easy to do so without giving an obvious sign. After all, Sasuke's pillow at the moment was the blonde's chest.

Naruto had slept cradling Sasuke ever since the brunette had woken up from a screaming nightmare in the presence of strangers. Simply having the blonde nearby was reassuring enough during the day, but not enough at night, when the feel of the Sound crept closer. He'd sleep, only to wake screaming in nameless fear. If Naruto was with him, most of the fear was kept at bay. Naruto hadn't been at Sound, obviously, so when Sasuke's subconscious sensed the blonde, it came to the logical conclusion that he was safely _away_ from _that place_.

But this strange person, Sasuke didn't know her. She could be from _that place_ so it would really be a good idea to wake Naruto. He'd protect the blind boy without a second thought. Except, he didn't need to wake Naruto, he was already awake. The blonde shinobi lightly squeezed Sasuke and turned a little as if he were still asleep. What he was really doing was grabbing the hand-and-a-half dagger he kept under his pillow. Sasuke shifted as well, moving off of the blonde in case he had to lunge.

"So how long are you going to lay there pretending to be asleep?" The strange woman said with irritation.

"Temari?" Naruto yelped, sitting up, "Dear gods, make some noise next time. You nearly ate six inches of steel!" That wasn't a bluff, and both of the other two knew it. Naruto had gotten a lot stronger.

"Well, normally I would have, but you and your friend there were looking _so_ cute snuggled together like that, that I just couldn't bring myself to wake you." She said in mock-schoolgirl tones. Sasuke felt his face burn, and from the way Naruto was sputtering, he was probably blushing just as brightly.

"'_Mari!"_ Naruto protested, "We weren't cuddling! Honest, I swear!"

"Uh-huh, right, sure you weren't. And all the photos I just got will prove just that."

"Nice camera you've got there." Kintchy remarked dryly, apparently awake now. She fluttered down from the foot board onto Sasuke's lap, who was sitting up now as well in spite of his desire to hide beneath the covers.

"Thank you," Temari said, apparently unfazed by the talking falcon.

"Ack! No! Gimme that camera!" Naruto cried out, lunging out of bed and chasing after Temari, who was laughing lightly at Naruto's actions. _Temari… plus teasing, plus laughing… equals…_ The mental image of this person who was now playing keep-away with the blonde did not match up with the other mental image Sasuke had of the cold, indifferent person who disclaimed responsibility for Kankuro's bullying. _What's going on here?!?_

"What's going on here?" Jiraiya growled from the bedroom doorway, "Can't a guy get a decent nights sleep around here?"

"Since when have you been decent?" Naruto declared, then eeped, "And what the heck happened with your hair? Did you get attacked by rabid, hyper squirrels or something?" Sasuke overheard Temari make a stifled distressed sound and felt Kintchy bury her head under his arm, and was suddenly glad that he couldn't see.

"I just have bed-head, you brat! You say this like you've never had it as well." Jiraiya yelled back.

"I never get bed-head! I always let the pillow do my hair." Naruto declared smugly, "That way I never have to worry about getting embarrassed and it saves time."

"Gee, that explains a lot." Temari drawled.

"Hey, whose side are you on 'Mari?" Naruto yelped, yet again.

"Ha, well said, young lady!" Jiraiya laughed at the same time the blonde yelped.

_I wonder if it's possible to disown acquaintances, _Sasuke thought_, I don't want to know these people._

"You got here sooner than I had thought, Temari-chan." Jiraiya said.

"Eh, well, it's not that far, and you did send the message via eagle, so it got there quickly." the Kunoichi said calmly, "Oh and don't try any of your cheap flirtation tricks this time, and go brush you hair. You're going to traumatize some innocent child with it."

"Temari-chan you're so cruel," the old man mock-sobbed, "Why must you be so cruel to a poor old man? You must have been associating with the gaki too long."

"Oi!" "Humph!"

_Oh, please, dear gods, please make it possible to disown any and all acquaintances, I really don't want to be associated with these maniacs!_

"Ah, Sasuke-kun, you're awake!" Jiraiya said jovially, "You were so quiet, I wondered if you might still be asleep in spite of all the mayhem." Naruto protested that Jiraiya was to worst for mayhem, but was ignored, "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Well," Sasuke said, tensing despite his knowledge that Jiraiya had no reason to hurt him and that Naruto wouldn't let him anyway.

"Good, I'm glad, especially since we're going to be heading off for Konoha today." The old man said, moving off back to his room.

_What!?!?!_ _Going back to Konoha? I can't, I can't go back!

* * *

_

_Gods, I hate mornings,_ Naruto thought as he stretched and yawned. "I'm going to get some breakfast, Temari, wanna come with?"

"Sure, that way I can get real food and not instant ramen." She replied.

"Hey, I don't have instant ramen for breakfast- often." the blonde protested. "Sasuke, I'll be right back. Anything you want in particular?"

Sasuke just shook his head and made a vague negative noise. He was sitting on the bed, hugging his knees, and looking down. _Uh-oh._ Naruto reached over and rubbed his shoulder gently.

"Hey, you alright?" The blonde murmured softly, too quiet for the Suna Kunoichi to hear.

"Hai…" Sasuke lied.

"Right," Naruto growled softly, "I'm gonna go get breakfast and then I'll ditch 'Mari by sicing Ero-Sennin on her so we can talk, okay?"

Sasuke nodded, face still down-turned. The blonde squeezed his shoulder gently.

"Okay, I'll be right back, alright?" Sasuke nodded again, and Naruto turned to leave with the only slightly patient Temari. Once they exited the room and closed the door, she pounced.

"I want to know what precisely is going on and who that is," she jerked her head back to the bedroom door, "and I want to know now."

Naruto blew out a sigh, "Right, uh, first, you remember Sasuke, right?"

Temari blinked at him, "That was Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Is there more than one?"

"Kami-sama… He looked so, so…"

"Broken? He is and that's part of the reason Ero-Sennin asked for help, and I'm glad it's you." Naruto gave a lop-sided grin.

"Ha, Gaara knows better than to just send anyone to bail you out, too many still see you as just the Kyuubi vessel." She grimaced, why couldn't those idiots see the bright-eyed sweet-heart that Naruto really was?

"Well, whatever, I'm still glad you're here. But back to my in-depth explanation. Couple, three days ago, a damned big bird called out and asked for help and Sasuke dropped in on us, almost literally." Naruto paused to let the terrified emotions that still washed over him at the memory to pass. "He was hurtin' bad, broken ribs, punctured lung and really looked like death warmed over. Sasuke had just escaped from that Orochimaru bastard and well…" The blonde shinobi looked back over his shoulder down the hallway, a sad expression on his face. "It's not just his body that was hurting." That was all he said.

"He's the one that my brothers and I tried to help stop from leaving, correct?" The ash-blonde Kunoichi asked as the reached the stairs heading down.

"Uh-huh, I failed, and Sasuke paid the price." The gold-blonde shinobi said bitterly, eyes downcast.

"He left of his own will and you did you're best to stop him, with whatever means you could." Temari stated firmly, "I know you by now, and I know that it's impossible for you to do any less." They paused, and Temari reached out to level Naruto's face with hers. "Whatever happened, you did your best. Sasuke's the one that chose to leave; he's the one who brought what happened down on his own head."

Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but Temari lifted a finger to stop him, "I don't believe that he deserved to be hurt as badly as he has been, nor do I believe that he still deserves to pay for his mistake. He's paid and then some. But you have to admit that he asked for something, after making so bad a mistake as to go to _Orochimaru_ of all people"

"Yeah, well…" Naruto shuffled his feet a little, then headed down the stairs to the cafeteria. "I think he paid three times over when the Snake-Bastard ordered Kabuto" the name was growled hatefully, "to take away his sight."

Temari had been three steps behind Naruto, but stopped dead when she heard that, "_What?_"

_Ow, my ears,_ "Kabuto sealed away Sasuke's eyesight, couldn't you tell he's blind?"

"No…" Temari said in a dazed tone, "His eyes are clear, and he was looking around…"

"Well, he's got this chakra sensing thing going, so he can tell where people are kinda. Or so he says. He says it's like if you hold your hands out, you can tell where the fire is by the heat, and the closer you are, the better you can tell exactly…" Naruto shrugged sheepishly, "I kinda get the feeling it's hard for him to describe, like explaining song to a deaf guy or-"

"Or color to a blind person?" Temari finished when her friend cut off. The other blonde grinned in embarrassment and rubbed the back of his head, then they continued down the stairs.

"Yeah, well, um, Sasuke's dealing with being blind pretty well, I think. I mean, he figured out how to use his chakra sense and he's got Kintchy to be his eye's for him."

"Kintchy?"

"The falcon?"

"Ah. Oh! So that's where the talking eagle that brought the note came from. He was really quite insulting."

"That was… Grats, I think. Sasuke said that that guy's like that, especially if he's asked to do something that's 'beneath him'." They had reached the cafeteria and Naruto grabbed a tray and started filling it with pastries, sausages and fruit. The pastries and sausages outnumbered the fruit three to one, Temari noted with a smile.

"I hope Sasuke likes sugar and meat." She remarked idly. Naruto grinned.

"Who do you think the fruit's for?"

* * *

Sasuke sat up on the bed, knees hugged tight to his chest, face buried, rocking with despair. _I can't go back, I can't go back, I can't go back…_ he chanted silently. 

"Sasuke-kun?" Kintchy asked quietly, trying to wedge her beak under her ally's right arm, "Sasuke-kun, what's wrong? Please, you know you can talk to me."

The blind boy raised his head a little, "Remember… when I left Sound, there were two places I said I couldn't go back too?"

"Yes, you didn't want to go back to _that place_, or Konoha." She said, "But Jiraiya-sama and Naruto-kun are both from Konoha, so they can vouch for you can't they? I mean, Naruto's so kind and protective…"

"And forgiving." Sasuke finished, "But that's what I'm afraid of, being hated. There are so many people there, at Konoha, that I betrayed. People that are important to me. I afraid that Naruto will be the only one to forgive me… But more, I…"

"But what?" Kintchy prompted. Sasuke moaned and buried his head in his knees more firmly. "Sasuke-kun?"

"They'll want to know! They'll want to know what happened, what I did! They'll want me to talk about _that place_ and _Him_, and _he'll _know and _He'll_ be mad! _He'll_ be mad at me and then- and then-!"

Sasuke's senses were suddenly overwhelmed by Naruto's presence and he felt himself getting pulled into one of those gentle, protective embraces. Gods it was so warm…

"Hush… hush…" Naruto crooned, holding and rocking him, "You're safe now, you're free. You can say whatever you want, or not say whatever and it'll be okay. You're safe, you're safe."

Sasuke turned and buried his face against Naruto's chest, trying to block out everything else. Distantly he could sense that other person, Temari, but he didn't really care. Naruto, the center of his universe, was here now, that was all that mattered.

Naruto would never hurt him, or allow him to be hurt. As long as his protector was there, Sasuke would be safe. He _knew_ it.

"Uh, 'Mari?" Naruto asked over his shoulder, "Could you- uh- maybe you should- um, talk to Ero-senin about what he's planning on doing?"

"Naru-baka, you really need to work on your lying." Was the young woman's response, "But I'll leave you two alone."

"Arigatou and gomen." The blonde boy said, while Sasuke lay conflicted in his arms. How dare that woman criticize Naruto in any fashion? Even if she did have a point, that excuse was really pathetic.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?" The blonde youth finally asked the dreaded question. Sasuke buried himself a little deeper into Naruto's arms. "C'mon Sasuke, talk to me, please? Maybe I can help?"

_You can't help, no one can. When we go back to Konoha, everyone will hate me. I know they will. And then, when _He_ comes for me, they'll just let _Him_ take me and not even you can stop him and- _It didn't take long for Sasuke to work himself into a full panic attack. He lay there, clinging to Naruto's shirt, gasping in anticipated horror while the blonde stroked his back, murmuring reassurances and begging to know what was wrong.

All Sasuke could do was whimper in fear. Fortunately, kind of, he also whimpered out words; "Can't go back, can't go back, can't go back-"

Suddenly Sasuke felt Naruto grab his arms in a tight grip and found himself shaken roughly.

"Sasuke! Snap out of it!" The blonde snapped. The dark-haired boy gaped, hanging limply in shock, "No one is going to hurt you, I promise! I won't let anything happen to you, I swear! Now please, just talk to me. What's wrong?"

"They'll hate me. They'll betray me like I did them. I know it. They'll hate and _He'll_ come for me and they'll just let _Him_ take me and-" Sasuke was shaken again before he had a chance to work himself up too much.

"No they won't, not Sakura-chan, not Kakashi-sensei, I promise." Naruto said, pulling Sasuke into a tight embrace again. "Sakura-chan misses you so much, I can tell. She writes me sometimes, and half the time she just talks about missions we would go on, and half the time she avoids mentioning you at all like it's too painful. She'll be overjoyed to see you again. And Kakashi-sensei, he'll be happy too. From what Ero-senin says, Kakashi-sensei blames himself for what happened. He'll be happy to see you, and you can be sure he won't let anything happen, promise!"

"But how can you be sure?" Sasuke demanded in anguish, "When they see me, when they see how filthy and tainted I am-"

"You are not tainted!" Naruto stated firmly, giving Sasuke another shake. "If you were you wouldn't be hurting. Ero-senin says so. Only people who _are_ tainted could go through what you did and not come out hurting."

Sasuke mutely shook his head and curled in on himself, pulling away from what Naruto was saying. The blonde pulled him close and stroked his hair.

"C'mon Sasuke, why can't you believe it, why can't you believe that your clean, that you haven't become tainted?" Naruto murmured into the dark hair, "I think you're clean, no, I know you are. You couldn't be hurting like this if you weren't, I _believe_ that. Why can't you?"

Sasuke didn't answer this time, only let himself be cradled and petted. He knew that in this, Naruto was wrong, but he didn't want to fight about it again. He couldn't bear to upset Naruto over anything, even if the blonde was wrong. So he just stayed silent and let the other youth believe what he wanted to. Naruto would anyway.

* * *

(1) Grey owls are exceedingly social creatures, to the point where they will groom the hair of researchers even if they've been caught in the wild (saw that on a nature program) 

A.S.: #glares at chapter# I hate you, I hate you, so much…. Why couldn't you just do what I wanted? Instead you had to argue with me ever single step! Arg!!!!

Naruto: There now, take it easy, the next one will work out right? You can just scene skip- eeep! Put down the knife! Help!


End file.
